Into the West

After their relocation to the Indian
Territory, the Seminole were initially confined to the lands and government of
the Creek Nation. The United States allowed them to have only limited self-governance,
and only if they adhered to the general laws of the Creeks. Frustrations with
these terms and the general conditions in the region led two bands of Seminole
under Wild Cat and John Horse to migrate to Mexico in 1849.

In 1856, after
nearly twenty years living under Creek rule, a treaty was made with the Creeks
and the Federal government establishing a Seminole Nation in Oklahoma.

This nation,
recognized as an independent nation within the United States and under its
protection, consisted of the land between the South Canadian River and North
Canadian River bounded on the East by a line where the present city of Tecumseh,
OK now exists, and on the west by the western boundary of the United States (in
1856), which was the 100th meridian.

The
Seminoles, under the leadership of Chief John Jumper, moved to their new nation
and established a community known as the Green Head Prairie. A council house was located about two miles
north and two miles west of the agency. After this settlement was made and the
homes were well established, the Civil War erupted and the Seminoles as well as
other members of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and
Muscogee (Creek), took up arms and fought one against the other.

Under the
agreement made with the Federal Government, the Seminoles were to be protected
from outside invasion, but with the rumors of war, and before any battles were
fought, the Government withdrew all of its forces, leaving the Indian Nations
unprotected from invasion from the South.

About
one-third of the Tribe, under the leadership of Big John Chupco, voted to remain
loyal to the Union and proceeded to move to Kansas. The first skirmishes of the
war took place when these Seminoles, along with other tribal members, who
favored the North, fought three engagements to reach help in Kansas.

The
remainder of the Seminoles under John Jumper joined forces with the
Confederacy. The soldiers, with Colonel Jumper as their leader, fought under
the command of General Stan Watie.

The war
devastated Indian Territory and when it came to an end the Five Civilized
Tribes were forced to give up their claim to all their land in the western half
of what is now Oklahoma.

In 1866, the
Seminoles were required to sign a new treaty. This treaty made certain
provisions that included the sale of all the Seminole Nation to the United
States at the rate of 15 cents per acre; to free their slaves and give them
tribal rights; to give rights of way to the railroads; to make peace among
themselves and with other tribes; to help organize a state made up of the
Indians in Oklahoma; and the Seminoles were allowed to buy land sold by the
Muscogee (Creeks) for a price of 50 cents per acre. This new land was the Second
Seminole Nation and existed from 1866 to 1907. This consisted of present day
Seminole County with the addition of 175,000 acres that the Seminoles later
bought from the Muscogee (Creeks).

With the
signing of the Treaty in 1866, the Government commissioned Elijah Brown to
bring the Northern Seminoles back to their new nation and set up a new capital
city. They chose as their capital the town of Wewoka. Seventeen years earlier,
in January of 1849, the Seminole Freedman leader John Horse had made a
temporary settlement on the north bank of the Wewoka Creek. They had given the
name Wewoka, "Barking Water", to the settlement because of the noise
made by the small falls located just east of the settlement.